PRIOR ART
This invention applies to brackets holding receivers and matching receivers.
More specifically, this invention applies to urine specimen collection.
The most significant patent related to this one is U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,654 issued to Van Duyne, which shows a specimen cup with a handle for being held by the user. Other patent show specimen cups which have a collection chamber attached below the receiving section of the specimen cup, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,046. Several patents in the prior art show the use of a handle on a specimen cup.
Unlike the prior art identified, the present invention utilizes a bracket mechanism designed to hold in an unobtrusive manner a specimen cup so that the user does not actually need to handle the specimen cup during the time that the specimen is being received. The specimen cup handle cooperates with the bracket by funneling fluids within the reservoir of the specimen cup.
It is difficult for female users to hold a specimen cup while giving urine samples. It is a very uncomfortable situation for a user to have to handle a specimen cup due to the potential difficulty in holding the specimen cup in place, the difficulty in seeing the specimen cup in place, and the potential for soiling the user's hands when the specimen cup is held in place.
It is therefore one purpose of this invention to provide a bracket for holding specimen cups in an appropriate position so that a user sitting on a toilet seat does not need to hold the specimen cup in place.
It is another purpose of this invention to provide a specimen holder which funnels the sample within the main reservoir of the specimen cup while maintaining an unsoiled handle for removing the same.
It is another purpose of this invention to provide a holder for a specimen cup so that after the specimen is collected, it is not accidentally spilled when being retrieved by the user.
It is another purpose of this invention to provide a urine specimen holder and a bracket for same which allows urine specimens to be easily collected.
It is another purpose of this invention to provide a urine specimen holder and bracket which is easily cleaned.
These and other objects and advantages to the invention will become better understood hereinafter from a consideration of the specification, with reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof and in which like numerals correspond to parts throughout the several views of the invention.